The Spiral Down (The Fall Up #2)(21)

“No!” she shouted.

Sam quickly nodded until Levee silenced him with a glare.

Tossing an arm around her, I dipped to kiss her forehead. “And yet another reason I’m happy to be gay.”

She slapped my chest.

“Okay, since I have so gravely failed at being your entertainment recently, I’ll give you a quick rundown. His name is Evan Roth. He’s unbelievably hot in that understated nice guy kind of way. He talked me through a flight last week. He has some sort of weird fetish for eighties cartoons but seemed to at least know Star Trek. He thinks I’m bisexual. Hence why he’s flying two female flight attendants in for me tonight. But, really, he’s the only thing on my menu for the evening. I want to have sex with him, but he’s straight, so I did what any horny man would do—I hired him to be my pilot.”

Levee’s mouth fell open as Sam released a string of expletives.

“Now, dry your eyes, Suzie Emotional, and act cool, because they’re opening the door.” I grinned.

I turned back to the plane just in time to see Flight Attendant Jessica come teetering down the stairs in a pair of heels. She battled the wind as it whipped her long, red hair into her face. Her low-cut, cream blouse threatened to fly up, but luckily, her short, black skirt appeared to have been painted on, so at least there wasn’t any danger of catching my first eyeful of vagina. My virginity was safe for yet another day.

Right behind her was a blonde in a tight, black dress who not even I could deny was stunning. Her long, tan legs devoured the steps as she gracefully exited the plane. Her hair was also caught in the wind, but instead of being a safety hazard as Jessica’s had been, this woman’s looked as though she were stepping onto a completely different type of runway.

I hated her instantly.

Because I knew Evan would love her instantly.

“Fuck,” I whispered as she shot a sexy, white smile in my direction.

“Jesus,” Levee whispered. “Please tell me that is not your competition for the evening.”

Gnawing on my bottom lip, I made a quick decision that was no doubt going to suck for me. “No. That’s my new date,” I announced before striding towards the women. “Ladies,” I purred over the wind. “Good to see you again, Jessica.” I briskly kissed her on the cheek then turned to the blonde. “And hello, gorgeous. I don’t believe we’ve met yet. I’m Henry.”

Her eyes turned dark as she gave me an obvious once-over. “Tabitha.”

A witch. How fitting.

Lifting her hand to my mouth, I mumbled, “Beautiful name for a beautiful woman.” I didn’t even gag as I kissed the back of her hand.

Her cheeks blushed as her eyes shifted to Jessica, who appeared none too happy about my interest in her friend. But that’s what she got for bringing a f*cking supermodel on a double date. Everyone knows you bring the troll friend in this situation. Shit. I was a man and knew that.

“Can you ladies excuse me for a moment? I’m going to have a word with our captain.” I jogged up the steps into the plane.

To my excitement, the door to the cockpit was open and Evan’s broad shoulders filled the doorway. Another man spoke, but it was Evan’s deep, throaty laugh that sent a tingle down my spine.

“Any chance I can get out of here before you start humping him?”

My body tensed and I twisted in the small space. A superiorly disgruntled Carter was glowering at me.

I sighed. “Still cranky. Great. I see you didn’t get laid.”

His eyes flared wide, but his lips thinned. I made a mental note of the flare but decided not to waste time trying to figure it out. Not with Evan only a few feet away.

Carter grimaced and landed a paw on my chest. “Don’t say I never gave you anything.” With a hard shove, he sent me stumbling back.

Directly into Evan. Ass to gloriously hard ass.

“What the…” Evan cursed.

Carter called out, “Shit. Sorry, Evan. My bad.”

Yep. Cranky and all. It was time to give Carter a raise.

He lifted his hand in a half salute, half wave before disappearing down the stairs.

“You okay?” Evan asked as I turned to face him.

Those dark-brown lashes blinked at me as a timid smile grew on his lips but it faltered before it reached his eyes.

It was still sexy enough to dry my mouth.

“Hi,” I said when wit failed me.

“Um. Hi.” He swayed uncomfortably as I stared at him.

But the truly unnerving part was that he was staring right back at me.

“Good flight?” I asked nervously. It was a surprisingly unnatural feeling for me.

“Great.” He lifted a muscular arm and raked a hand through his short hair. It was barely long enough to style—but more than thick enough for me to grip while he was on his— “Henry! Let’s go. We’re going to be late!” Levee called up the stairs.

I lifted a single finger in her direction. “You ready?”

“For?” he drawled in question.

I tipped my head. “Concert, dinner, drinks. Listen, change of plans but Jessica is yours. Have you seen her friend Tabitha?” I sucked in a low whistle.

He furrowed his brow, which caused a sexy crinkle between those gorgeous, blue eyes. “I’m not going to that.” He jerked his chin toward his shoulder at his copilot. “Baez and I are gonna grab some dinner and then head back to the hotel.”